At
times avid gardeners take it for granted that everyone already knows
the details of successful vegetable gardening practices such as planting
onions.

Recently, I was reminded that there are plenty of
people who could use important information and helpful gardening tips to
their advantage.

As the holidays brings out more shoppers who do not cook huge family
dinners on a regular basis, I overheard a young lady in the supermarket
as she looked down at the long grocery list ask her Mom, "Aren't
scallions just onions that haven't grown big yet?"

Let's look at the
basics for onions which includes other members of the Allium
family such as leeks, garlic, chives, and shallots.

Onion Harvest Planning

The main goal of a home vegetable garden is to provide family,
neighbors, and friends with a continual supply of delicious and healthy
produce.

Following well laid plans for harvesting makes achieving your
goals much easier. It is necessary to plan accordingly because
vegetables have varying growing habits, seasons, and harvests.

Since
onion sets often contain bulbs of various sizes, they mature at
different times over a period of weeks. Most garden vegetables such as
drying onions are harvested at maturity.

How to Harvest Green and Bunching Onions

At about the time you are planting warm season vegetables in the garden,
the first green onions should be ready to harvest.

As green onions
mature, they produce a series of crops. Green onions, bunching onions,
and chive offer continuous harvests once they reached their desired
size.

When harvesting onions, pull green onions when bulbs are
no more than ½ inch in diameter, wash them thoroughly, and refrigerate
immediately.

Bunching onions and chive form perennial colonies of
pungent shoots, which may be harvested throughout the vegetable
gardening season.

Harvesting Onions, Garlic and Shallots

Begin harvesting onions, garlic, and shallot in early summer.

Harvest
bunching varieties when bulb divisions reach 1-2 inches by splitting
them off from outside of the bunch.

For mature bulbs, gather when tops
brown and wither and bulb size is 3-5 inches.

Onion, shallot,
and garlic plants generally require lodging to prevent their green tops
from forming seed heads as they dry.

Bend the stalks to the ground
several weeks before harvesting to limit further foliage development.

This action redirects the plant's energy to root development and
increases the flavor and size of the onions.

When the onion tops
have nearly dried, dig up a head or two to make certain the vegetables
are fully developed.

Onions and garlic may be stored in the soil for a
few weeks.

Shallots may be held in the ground for longer periods but are
subject to damage in hard freezes.

Choose a sunny dry day for
harvesting onions.

Hang the bulbs from their stalks in a warm dry
location for about 10 days.

The outer onion skin should turn papery.

Then move the vegetables to a cool dry storage area or use immediately.

How to Store Onions

Storing onions is really quite simple. After the onions have dried, the
onions are ready for longer term storage. The dried onion tops can be
braided together to store the onions, or the dried tops can be removed
and the onions placed in a cool, dark, dry storage area to extend shelf
life.

Vegetable Gardening Trivia

During a radio contest, a question asked of the contestants was what
food is most used around the world. Many of the callers suggested bread
or rice. The correct answer was onions! Harvesting onions can be traced
back thousands of years to Ancient Egypt.

Throughout modern
times, rural home vegetable gardening has enjoyed a tasteful as well as
colorful history. In the not so distant past, suburban backyard plots
became increasingly popular during war time. Community gardens in urban
settings also saw a rise in popularity to meet an increasing demand for
supplying fresh vegetables.

Harvest's end

Instructing young children in cultivation techniques such as growing and
harvesting onions is a fun way to get them involved and cheap labor
too! Vegetable gardening is a practical guide for young people and
adults as well to ways of becoming self sufficient, responsible, and
able to achieve set goals. A plentiful harvest is the handsome reward
for a job well done!